Paragon Deli Cafe closed in September 2024. It is very much missed.
mmm-yoso!!! will be written by Cathy over this Independence Day weekend; Kirk is doing things with His Missus.
It was three years ago when Kirk first posted about Paragon Deli Cafe. I had commented about something on the menu.
Recently, I had a craving for tomato stuffed with tuna salad, an old fashioned menu item rarely seen (and very missed), I checked out the menu at Paragon.
First, it was great to see they were still in business. Second- the tuna stuffed tomato ($10.95) was still on the menu!
A wonderful, refreshing, flavor filled version of this simple diner classic. Served on top of a bed of lettuce with a house made dressing, this is a great lunch.
There is a chalkboard next to the cash register.
A bowl ($5.75) of the Soup du Jour (from scratch mushroom)
as well as a cup ($5) (vegetarian pea) were enjoyed on visits. The 'everyday' soups (tomato basil and chicken noodle) are priced $4 and $5.25.
Of course, we wanted to try the Portuguese Francesinha ($15.95), which Kirk had written about in his post. Wow! Linguica, ham, roast beef, cheese, topped with a runny fried egg and sauce covering it all-including the fries. The sauce-you can taste the beer as well as the whiskey. Magical and it makes me understand why Kirk craved (then raved) about this wonderful sandwich.
You will notice on the menu the namesake Pacific Paragon Sandwich ($12.95), which originated at Marston's Tea Room. Marston's was a downtown San Diego Department Store before being sold to The Broadway in 1961. This sandwich won a 1960 American Restaurant Magazine award for "Best Sandwich".
Fresh roast turkey (as in roasted here, today), crispy thick quality bacon, shredded lettuce, house made Blue cheese dressing (excellent) served open faced on rye. This- THIS sandwich is fancy as well as wonderful. 
A similar item (in that there are crossover ingredients) is the California Cobb Salad ($12.95). Freshly roasted turkey (remarkably good), bacon, crumbled blue cheese, avocado, tomato and pickled egg.
There is quite an interest in eggs here; deviled egg dishes are used in the refrigerator and there is a collection on the wall above the kitchen.
Speaking of eggs, Paragon opens at 7 a.m., so there is breakfast.
The Croque Madame ($13.95) is made with French ham, gruyere and a house made béchamel. Very tasty and filling.
The Eggs Benedict ($12.95) served on an English muffin with ham and a very proper (unbroken) Hollandaise along with fruit and a hash brown patty is also filling and flavorful.
Paragon Deli Cafe serves quality food and has the friendliest people working here; most are family.
Paragon Deli Cafe 2724 Shelter Island Drive San Diego 92106 (619) 888-4997 Website Open Mon-Sat 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Closed Sunday
Speaking of Department store restaurants, you might remember this post or this post or this one, this one or even this different type of Department store with a restaurant inside.
This was indeed a sad moment for me. Even though I thought TOSEL wasn't quite the same since Koby sold SEL, the 
First off, the good…..man, I really enjoyed the mac salad here, just as good as 
The toasted roll makes all the difference since Tadian can sometimes over sauce/dress their sandwiches. Even though they say that "Thai peanut sauce" is on this sandwich; I tend to think of this as a pseudo Banh Mi because of the pickled carrots, cucumbers, and cilantro. The jalapenos are a must because the amount of bread can really tone down the flavors. Still, it's a pretty good sandwich.
The fries were nicely friend and still crisp when I got back to the office. And there's garlic and parmesan….with a light drizzle of truffle oil on them. I do prefer the toasted French roll 
Well, you get the point, right? So maybe I just gotta order in person when getting the Siren and/or fries? You know, its been my experience with 
I'm sure you know if foie gras is on the menu, we'd be ordering it, even with a $20 supplement. The fois gras was nicely seared, the interior nice and smooth, rich, earthy, though the roasted and compressed apple was perhaps a bit on the sweeter end of the spectrum for us.
Turning things over was a different story as it was pretty greasy. The meat was very moist, tender, and it had that flavor of dark meat chicken that I prefer. The batter was quite crunchy but the seasoning dust is pretty gritty, though quite spicy; but there’s a lack of other flavors….at Hatties, I remember the chicken being very spicy, but it still had some smokiness, most likely from Paprika and even a hint of garlic tones.
Unfortunately, the batter of the wings didn’t hold up well, much of it getting a bit mushy and flaking off. So, if you’re ordering this, it’s probably in your best interest to eat them ASAP….maybe even in the parking lot! Lot’s of burnt garlic which was on the bitter side, though I enjoyed the spice. The flesh of the wings were nice and moist.
The chicken really just tasted boiled lacking in the mild hints of anise-wine and devoid of any salt or mild ginger tones….just plain bland. The sauce provided had brown specks in it and tasted a bit rancid and off. The chicken while cooked nicely, just didn’t taste right.
We decided to just walk along Princes Street and the huge 
Soon it was getting close to our dinner time, so I had to find the "close" where our dinner destination was located. We headed down the Mound and onto the Royal Mile and High Street. Right across 
Folks inside waved us to the actual entrance where we were greeted by a Hostess…..people in Edinburgh and Scotland for that matter, were so very friendly….really fun and nice. We were led to a table on the upper level. Where we were seated and handed menus. The place is dark and somewhat funky….but what do you expect here! After all, who knows who walked along the path in this close? It might have been 
